Publishings

 

Olga Jesurum

 

By comparing “libretti” captions with stage directions and scenic design sketches, the transformation of the scenic design until the mid twentieth century of I Vespri siciliani, La traviata, Un ballo in maschera and La forza del destino is here explored.  Both the influence of scenic design choices in the first performances and the solutions implemented by the first fitters to cope with stage situation which were left unsolved in the “libretti” can be studied, as well as the shifts in sensibility introduced in the opera visual elements by artistic transformations and in theatre organisation. In this way the century long relation between the renewed visual needs of the opera stage and Verdi’s mise-en-scène ideas for his operas, in which scenic design was intertwined with sound, can be observed. Seventy colour scenic design illustrations of the explored operas enrich this volume (signed among others by artists such as Bertoja, Ferrario, Roller, Magnani, Parravicini, Vagnetti, Marchioro, Benois, De Nobili) allowing the reader to instantly have a physical reference in relation to what is deepened in the book.